Gem setting



Jan. 5 1926.

A. SHATKIN as! serum Filed Kay 51 1923 IN V EN TOR 4g gab! JHA TKIIV ATTORNEYS Patented Jan. 5, 1926.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEM SETTING.

Application fil ed May 31, 1923. Serial No. 642,583.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, AARON SI-IATKIN, a citizen of Russia, and. a resident of the city of New York, borough of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gem Setting, of, which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention aims to providea novel type of gem-mount, particularly of the type known in the art as a top-mount for a finger ring. It is well-known that the proper setting of a gem in a top-mount requires the painstaking work of the most expert of gemsetters, and requires many hours of this .highly skilled and highly paid artisans time.

A particular object is to provide a plurality of relatively movable and separable parts for the gem-mounting boss of a ring, that is, for the boss characteristic of a top-mount, such parts including an outer shell and a plurality of screw-threadedly adjustable parts within the shell; a pair of the parts holding the gem and'with the gem constituting a unitary structure readily associated and disassociated with the top mount whereby practicallyanyone can set a gem in such a mount and without any chance of subsequent discovery that the special group of relatively movable parts of. the present invention is utilized.

A further object is to provide a mount as just characterized, and one wherein each of said relatively movable parts, with the pos sible exception of the outer shell itself (which shell, as is usual, is preferably integrally carried by the finger-embracing band of the ring) may be constructed in large quantities at a minimum of cost, and with such parts chiefly, if not entirely, elements of the kind produced by screw-machine production processes.

A further objectis to provide a mount as above, and yet one so constructed that the gem may never be wrongfully or accidentally detached from the ring as long as the ring is on the finger of the wearer.

Another object is to provide a mount as last explained, and one so constructed that practically all chances of the gem becoming accidentally detached from the ring, and lost, are eliminated, whether the ring is on the hand or not. I j

A further object is .to rovide a mount .as

just described, whereby, nevertheless, the gem may be readily removed for inspection, cleaning and possibly for the substitution of a different gem, even by any ordinary wearer of the ring.

A further object is to provide a multipart mount, and one which may be readily disassembled, but preferably only as the result of using a special tool, and then only when the ring is off the hand.

A very important object of the present invention is to provide a top-mount as aforesaid, and one having most if not all the advantages above given, but a mount adapted, nevertheless, for use when the gem-surrounding boundary or decorative bead of. the mount is polygonal rather than circular. Indeed, in the preferred embodiment of the invention, hereinafter described, such a polygonal characteristic of the mount, and particularly a polygonal opening in the shell,

is utilized in such a way as to add, to its aesthetic and popular values, the attribute of forming an important mechanical element of the group of relatively movable parts essentially constituting the invention.

In the accompanying drawing,

" Fig. 1 shows the way a gem is set by a skillful setter in a top-mount of the prior art, this view being a section taken through a finger ring and taken in a plane cutting the entire circumference of the finger-embracing band;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of a ring incorporating a top-mount constructed according to the present invention;

Fig. 3 is a View similar to Fig. 1, but being a section taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary View, being a section taken on line 44: of Fig. 2

Fig. 5 shows the top-mount of the ring of Fig. 2 in bottom plan, that is, is a section taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary perspective view of the ring eitherof Fig. 1, or of Figs. 2 to 5,assuming for purposes of illustration, that the exterior of the top-mount and adj acent parts of the ring, are identical in regard to both rings. y

In connection with the mention just made of the showing of Fig. 6, it will be understood that the-present invention is not at all concerned with the exterior conformation of the top-mount, nor has the presence of the decorative bridge pieces7, here joining thefinger-band 8 and the top-mount shell 9 or 9 of each ring, with the present invention.

Examining first Fig. 1, it may be pointed out that the essential characteristic of a socalled top-mount for a gem 10 is the chiselling, scraping out or other excavation of portions of the outer end of the projecting boss or shell 9 to provide an annular seat 11 and an annular retaining flange 12 for the periphery of the gem at its portion of greater diameter. It will be understood that the term flange is used very loosely at this point, for the reason, as will appear hereinafter, that the metal of the boss or shell 9 immediately above ledge 11 is usually worked in such a way as to provide a retaining means for the gem consisting of small prong-like masses of metal, or beards, spaced circumferentially of the part of the gem which they overlie.

Such beards are, for example, shown at. 12 in Figs. 2 and 4.

Referring now to the details of construction of the illustrative embodiment of the present invention shown in Figs. 1 to 5, the gem 10 is seen gripped a d really set between two wholly separable members forming parts of a gem-setting structure proper bodily removable from the interior of hollow shell 9 such interior being specially shaped as best shown in Fig. 3. That is to say, such interior is conical and outwardly flaring, and this incidentally results in a considerable saving of metal in so far as the shell itself is concerned. The two members just mentioned comprise a gem-cap 13 housable within the shell as shown, and an intermediate member 1 1 here tubular and having a conical upper end for engaging the underside of the gem when the upper side thereof is engaged by the beards 12 or an equivalent, the last-mentioned means 12 being, it may be explained, carried integrally by gem-cap 13.

Such cap and member 1 1 carry co-acting screw threads 15, whereby, when these two parts and the gem are wholly disengaged and removed from shell 9, if desired, the members 13 and 14 may be manually screwed up together preliminary to set the gem and rather securely to hold the same in place.

A third thread-carrying member, or auxiliary device, 16, is inserted through a suitable opening in the bottom of shell 9, and, as shown, member 16 and intermediate member 14 carry co-acting screw threads 17, whereby, on rotating member 16, as by means of a suitable key temporarily inserted in a squared recess or bore 18 formed in member 16, said member 16 may be rotated relative to shell 9 and to draw 'down the gem and its mounting structure proper (the parts 13 and 14:). The key or special'tool just mentioned is not shown, but the same of course has a square stem of such length, and a anything to do knurled head or finger-piece, if such head is provided, of such small dimensions, that the tool may be engaged with member 16 from within band 8 and may be manipulated within the confines of such band.

In the present case, member 16 is set in the ring so as to be rotatable axially of shell J but nonwithdrawablc along said axis. This end is in tl c present case attained by shaping the portion of band 8 which forms the bottom wall of shell 9, so that there is provided a counter-sunk recess for housing a terminal collar 19 on the inner end of member 16; while another collar, 26, is soldered or otherwise fixed to member 16 in the bottom of the hollow interior of shell 9.

In top mounts, especially for linger rings, it is often very desirable to provide a mount such that when viewed as in Fig. 2 the same is of polygonal outline generally hexagonal as shown in the dra 'ing. Advantage taken of this taste preference, by shaping cap-piece 13, at its upper portion of maximum diameter, so that there such piece is also of polygonal outline; and in connection with this shaping of the cap-piece, the outer mouth of shell 9 is similarly polygonal, and the threaded portions of the three members 13, ].%land 16 are given suitable 9 lengths longitiulinally of the shell 5), all whereby, after the :ap-piec: and the intermediate member 11 are screwed up on the gem, these parts as one structure may be first screwed up on the member 16 by linger manipulation from a point beyond the outer end of shell 9; and whereby, thereupon, the tool aforesaid may be applied to member 16 to rotate the latter relative to intermediate member let and thereby to draw the gem and its mounting structure proper down into the interior of shell 9 until the parts are finally disposed as shown best in Fig. lt will be noted that during the operation last mentioned, the polygonal exterior of cappiece 13 keys to the polygonal outer mouth of shell 9, and thus facilitates the ease and rapidity of operating member 16 by the tool to complete the manufacture of the ring.

An important feature of the present invention, or at least one highly preferable, is the making of the threads on members 13 and 16 of opposite hand. As a result, on finally operating member 16 as aforesaid, the screw thread connection between members 1-1 and 15 is tightened rather than loosened.

In the operation of removing the gem from its setting, it is obvious, especially with the parts having polygonal keying portions as above described, that member 16 must first be rotated a sufficient number of turns to lift the gem and its clamping parts above the outer mouth of shell 9"; whereupon the gem and the parts last-mentioned may be easily manually turned from a point beyond the outer end of the shell, until they are all freed from member 16 and from shell 9*. Then of courseit is only necessary to rotate one of the parts 13 and 14 relative to the other, to separate such parts, whereupon the gem is freed from its setting proper. j

F romthe foregoing, it will be clear that all the various objects of theinvention hereinabove set forth or intimated are attained, and particularly the feature of precluding any possibility that the gem may be wrongfully or accidentally detached from the ring as long as the ring is on the finger of the wearer.

I Before concluding this specification, it maybe pointed out that the polygonal outlinesmarked 20 and 21 in Fig. 2 may rep resent a decorative marginal bead, as indi- I cated at I; in- Fig. 4-. in dot-and-dash lines;

but as a matter of fact, in the present case, the inner outline 21 is the joint between the portion of cap-piece 13 of polygonal shape and the similarly shaped outer mouth of shell 9*. In this connection, attention may well be directed to a special advantage of the present invention, in the way of pro viding a multi-part gemmount adapted to be given a fine finish at comparatively small expense. Thus, if bead B is provided, the outline 21, excepting the portion of cappiece 13 of maximum diameter, will be inconspicuous if observable at all; while if such bead is eliminated, the outline 21 may be made practically invisible, when the parts are joined up as shown in Fig. 3, by a suitable polishing operation of the most inexpensive kind applied to the parts when so assembled. In any event, even with such outline visible when the parts are assembled as shown in Fig. 3, the presence of the outline will be attractive, as an apparent embellishment, rather than otherwise; even should the shell 9 be designed to have a circular, ovate or other non-polygonal outline at its outer end.

I claim:

1. In a finger ring, a top-mount gem-setting including a top-mount shell permanently carried by the finger band of the ring, a unitary structure removably receivable by the shell and including a plurality of separable parts relatively adjustable to engage and set the gem on said structure with the structure removed from the shell, and a device fitted within the shell and engageable with said structure and adjustable relative thereto to set the structure in the shell.

52. In a finger ring, a top-mount gem-setting including a top-mount shell permanently carried by the finger band of the ring, a unitary structure removably receivable by the shell and including a plurality of separable parts relatively adjustable to engage and set the gem on said structure with the structure removed from the shell,

said structure after so engaging the gem being insertable in the shell from the outer end thereof, and a device for engaging the shell at the inner end thereof and operable, from the exterior of the shell, to engage said structure and thereupon to frictionally clamp the structure in the shell.

3. In a finger ring, a top-mount gem-setting including a top-mount shell permanently carried by the finger band of the ring, a unitary structure removably receivable by the shell and including a plurality of separable parts relatively adjustable to engage and set the gem on said structure with the structure removed from the shell, the outer mouth of the shell conforming to the outer periphery of the structure, the inner end of the shell having an opening, and an auxiliary device operable-by way of such opening and from within the band of the ring, said device and the inner end of said structure having co-acting threads, whereby turning said device relative to the shell moves said device axially of the shell to set the structure fully within the shell.

4. In a finger ring, a top-mount gem-setting including a top-mount shell permanent ly carried by the finger band of the ring, a unitary structure removably receivable by the shell and including a gem-cap housable within the shell and having a screw-thread portion, a member having a screw -thread portion for coacting with the similar portion of the cap, said member having a second portion for engaging the underside of the gem when said. cap and member are screwed togetheiy and means for removably securing said structure within the shell.

5. In a finger ring, a top-mount gem-setting including a top-mount shell permanently carried by the finger band of the ring, a unitary structure removably receivable by the shell and including a gem-cap housable within the shell and having a screw-thread on the interior thereof, and a member having an exterior screw-thread on an end portion thereof for co-acting with the firstmentioned screw-thread, said member also being shaped to carry an internal screw.- thread at the opposite end portion thereof, and a member, auxiliary to said structure, movable relative to the shell while engaging the bottom wall of the shell and carrying an exterior screw-thread for coaction with the interior screw-thread of the first-mentioned member.

screw 0 members are relatively adjustable to set a gem therebetween, one of said pair of members and the third member carrying co-acting screw-threads whereby these members are relatively adjustable to clamp all the parts in the shell.

7. In a finger ring, a top-mount gem-setting including a shell, said shell having an opening at its inner end, and three relatively movable members, a pair of which members carry co-acting screw-threads whereby these members are relatively adjustable to set a gem therebetween, one of said pair of members and the third member carrying coacting screw-threads whereby these members are relatively adjustable to clamp all the parts in the shell, there being left and right hand screw threads to permit the relative adjustment of certain parts without affecting the adjustment of other parts.

8. In a finger ring, a top-mount gem-setting including a shell, said shell having an opening at its inner end, and three relatively movable members, a pair of which members carry co-aeting screw-threads whereby these members are relatively adjustable to set a gem therebetween, one of said pair of members and the third member carrying coacting screw-threads whereby these members are relatively adjustable to clamp all the parts in the shell, one of said members constituting a gem-capping means and the shell having an opening at its inner end through which access may be had to a portion of another of said members, said portion being shaped whereby the same is manipulable from the exterior of the shell.

9. In a finger ring, a top-mount gem-setting including a shell, said shell having an opening at its inner end, and three relatively movable members, a pair of which members carry co-acting screw-threads whereby these members are relatively adjustable to set a gem therebetwcen, one of said pair of members and the third member carrying coacting screw-threads whereby these members are manually relatively adjustable to clamp all the parts in the shell, one of said members constituting a gem-capping means and the shell having an opening at its inner r end through which access may be had to a portion of another of said members, said portion being a recess to be engaged by a suitable key for use to facilitate rotation of the last-mentioned member.

AARON SHATKIN. 

